Popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture and pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of the practices, beliefs and objects that are dominant or ubiquitous in a society at a given point in time. Popular culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects. Heavily influenced in modern times by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of people in a given society. Therefore, popular culture has a way of influencing an individual's attitudes towards certain topics.McGaha, Julie. "Popular Culture & Globalization". Multicultural Education 23.1 (2015): 32–37. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 5 Aug. 2016. However, there are various ways to define pop culture.Strinati, D. (2004). An introduction to theories of popular culture. Routledge. Because of this, popular culture is something that can be defined in a variety of conflicting ways by different people across different contexts.Storey, J. (2018). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction. Routledge. It is generally viewed in contrast to other forms of culture such as folk culture, working-class culture, or high culture, and also through different theoretical perspectives such as psychoanalysis, structuralism, postmodernism, and more. The most common pop-culture categories are: entertainment (such as movies, music, television and video games), sports, news (as in people/places in the news), politics, fashion, technology, and slang. Popular culture is sometimes viewed by many people as being trivial and "dumbed down" in order to find consensual acceptance from (or to attract attention amongst) the mainstream. As a result, it comes under heavy criticism from various non-mainstream sources (most notably from religious groups and from countercultural groups) which deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist, or corrupt. History and definitions The term "popular culture" was coined in the 19th century or earlier.Although the Oxford English Dictionary lists the first use as 1854, it appears in an address by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in 1818: Traditionally, popular culture was associated with poor education and with the lower classes, , The educational institutions of the United States, their character and organization, J. Chapman, 1853, p. 243: "Influence of European emigration on the state of civilization in the United States: Statistics of popular culture in America". John Morley presented an address On Popular Culture at the Birmingham Town Hall in 1876, dealing with the education of the lower classes. as opposed to the "official culture" and higher education of the upper classes.[https://books.google.com/books?id=DOoe_MqMQe4C&pg=PA13 Rabelais and Bakhtin: Popular Culture in "Gargantua and Pantagruel"] p.13[https://books.google.com/books?id=d6jtq0LglIAC&pg=PA9 Rabelais's Radical Farce] p. 9 Victorian-era Britain experienced social changes that resulted in increased literacy rates, and with the rise of capitalism and industrialisation, people began to spend more money on entertainment. Labelling penny dreadfuls the Victorian equivalent of video games, The Guardian in 2016 described penny fiction as "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for the young". A growing consumer culture and an increased capacity for travel via the newly-invented railway (the first public railway, Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in north-east England in 1825) created both a market for cheap popular literature, and the ability for its distribution on a large scale. The first penny serials were published in the 1830s to meet this demand. The stress in the distinction from "official culture" became more pronounced towards the end of the 19th century,"Learning is dishonored when she stoops to attract," cited in a section "Popular Culture and True Education" in University extension, Issue 4, The American society for the extension of university teaching, 1894. a usage that became established by the interbellum period. e.g. "the making of popular culture plays post-revolutionary Russian theater", Huntly Carter, The new spirit in the Russian theatre, 1917–28: And a sketch of the Russian kinema and radio, 1919–28, showing the new communal relationship between the three, Ayer Publishing, 1929, p. 166. From the end of World War II, following major cultural and social changes brought by mass media innovations, the meaning of popular culture began to overlap with those of mass culture, media culture, image culture, consumer culture, and culture for mass consumption."one look at the sheer mass and volume of what we euphemistically call our popular culture suffices", from Winthrop Sargeant, 'In Defense of the High-Brow', an article from LIFE magazine, 11 April 1949, p. 102. Social and cultural changes in the United States were a pioneer in this with respect to other western countries. The abbreviated form "pop" for popular, as in pop music, dates from the late 1950s.The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, volume 15, p. 85 entry Pop music Although terms "pop" and "popular" are in some cases used interchangeably, and their meaning partially overlap, the term "pop" is narrower. Pop is specific of something containing qualities of mass appeal, while "popular" refers to what has gained popularity, regardless of its style.Steinem, Gloria. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XFMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA73 Outs of pop culture], in LIFE magazine, 20 August 1965, p. 73 quotation: Bill Lamb, "What Is Pop Music? A Definition", About.com, retrieved 8 March 2012 quotation: According to author John Storey, there are various definitions of popular culture.John Storey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SRN59zg9t9AC Cultural Theory and Popular Culture], pp. 4–8 The quantitative definition of culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g., television dramatizations of Jane Austen) is also "popular." "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is. However, many works straddle the boundaries, e.g., William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. A third definition equates pop culture with "mass culture" and ideas. This is seen as a commercial culture, mass-produced for mass consumption by mass media.Sérgio Campos Gonçalves, "Cultura e Sociedade de Consumo: um olhar em retrospecto", InRevista – Núcleo de Produção Científica em Comunicação – UNAERP (Ribeirão Preto), v. 3, pp. 18–28, 2008, . From a Western European perspective, this may be compared to American culture. Alternatively, "pop culture" can be defined as an "authentic" culture of the people, but this can be problematic as there are many ways of defining the "people." Storey argued that there is a political dimension to popular culture; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory "... sees popular culture as a site of struggle between the 'resistance' of subordinate groups in society and the forces of 'incorporation' operating in the interests of dominant groups in society." A postmodernist approach to popular culture would "no longer recognize the distinction between high and popular culture." Storey claims that popular culture emerged from the urbanization of the Industrial Revolution. Studies of Shakespeare (by Weimann, Barber, or Bristol, for example) locate much of the characteristic vitality of his drama in its participation in Renaissance popular culture, while contemporary practitioners like Dario Fo and John McGrath use popular culture in its Gramscian sense that includes ancient folk traditions (the commedia dell'arte for example). , Shakespeare and the Popular Tradition (1967)Robert Shaughnessy, The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare and popular culture (2007) p. 24 Popular culture is constantly evolving and occurs uniquely in place and time. It forms currents and eddies, and represents a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in various ways. For example, certain currents of pop culture may originate from, (or diverge into) a subculture, representing perspectives with which the mainstream popular culture has only limited familiarity. Items of popular culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public. Important contemporary contributions for understanding what popular culture means have been given by the German researcher Ronald Daus, who studies the impact of extra-European cultures in North America, Asia, and especially in Latin America. Folklore Adaptations based on traditional folklore provide a source of popular culture.On the Ambiguity of the Three Wise Monkeys A. W. Smith Folklore, Vol. 104, No. 1/2 (1993), pp. 144–150 This early layer of cultural mainstream still persists today, in a form separate from mass-produced popular culture, propagating by word of mouth rather than via mass media, e.g. in the form of jokes or urban legends. With the widespread use of the Internet from the 1990s, the distinction between mass media and word-of-mouth has become blurred. Although the folkloric element of popular culture engages heavily with the commercial element, the public has its own tastes and it may not always embrace every cultural or subcultural item sold. Moreover, beliefs and opinions about the products of commercial culture spread by word-of-mouth, and become modified in the process and in the same manner that folklore evolves. Usage Many people say that popular culture is a tool that higher ranking people in a society and elites (who often control mass media and popular culture outlets) use to control the people below them in society. It's also said that popular culture dulls the minds of the "common man", making them more passive and easier to control, although popular culture can also be used as a means of rebellion against the ways and culture of dominant subcultures. Sources Sources of popular culture include: * Films * Television programs * Popular music * Sports * Corporations * Books (no section) * Radio (no section) * Video games (no section) * The Internet (no section) Issue 64 Philosophy Now|website=philosophynow.org|access-date=2018-07-06}} Films Films started massive popular culture. Television programs A television program is a segment of audiovisual content intended for broadcast (other than a commercial, trailer, or other content not serving as attraction for viewership). Television programs may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news and reality television). They may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television movies), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They can be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows. Music Popular music is music with wide appeal Collins English Dictionary|url = http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/popular-music|website = www.collinsdictionary.com|accessdate = 2015-11-15}} that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional or "folk" music. Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music, although since the beginning of the recording industry, it is also disseminated through recordings. Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences. Sports Sports include all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators. Corporate branding Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. Personal branding Personal branding includes the use of social media to promotion to brands and topics to further good repute among professionals in a given field, produce an iconic relationship between a professional, a brand and its audience that extends networks past the conventional lines established by the mainstream and to enhance personal visibility. See also * Bread and circuses * Cultural icon * Culture industry * Fads * Journal of Popular Culture * Low culture * MTV Generation * Pop art * Pop icon * Popular culture studies Notes References * Ashby, LeRoy. "The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch," OAH Magazine of History, 24 (April 2010), 11–14. * Ashby, LeRoy. With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830 (2006). * : Der deutsche Pop-Roman. Die neuen Archivisten (The German Pop-Novel. The new archivists), C.H. Beck, München 2002, . * Bakhtin, M. M. and Michael Holquist, Vadim Liapunov, Kenneth Brostrom (1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays (University of Texas Press Slavic Series). Ed. Michael Holquist. Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin and London: University of Texas Press. * Browne, Ray B. and Pat Browne, eds. The Guide to U.S. Popular Culture (2001), 1010 pages; essays by experts on many topics. * Burke, Peter. "Popular Culture Reconsidered," Storia della Storiografia 1990, Issue 17, pp. 40–49''. * Freitag, Sandria B. "Popular Culture in the Rewriting of History: An Essay in Comparative History and Historiography," Journal of Peasant Studies, 1989, Vol. 16 Issue 3, pp. 169–198. * Gans, Herbert J. Popular Culture and High Culture: an Analysis and Evaluation of Taste. New York: Basic Books, 1974. xii, 179 p. * Gerson, Stéphane. "'A World of Their Own': Searching for Popular Culture in the French Countryside," French Politics, Culture and Society, Summer 2009, Vol. 27 Issue 2, pp. 94–110 * Golby, J. M. and A.W. Purdue, The civilisation of the crowd: popular culture in England, 1750–1900 (1985) online * Griffin, Emma. "Popular Culture in Industrializing England," Historical Journal, (2002) 45#3 pp. 619–635. online, Historiography * Hassabian, Anahid (1999). "Popular", Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture, eds.: Horner, Bruce and Swiss, Thomas. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers. . * Knight, Robert H. The Age of Consent: the Rise of Relativism and the Corruption of Popular Culture. Dallas, Tex.: Spence Publishing Co., 1998. xxiv, 253, 1 p. * Ross, Andrew. No Respect: Intellectuals & Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 1989. ix, 269 p. (pbk.) * Seabrook, John. NoBrow : the culture of marketing the marketing of culture, New York: A.A. Knopf, 2000. . * Storey, John (2006). Cultural theory and popular culture. Pearson Education. . * Stoykov, Lubomir. Politics and pop culture. Celebrity and communicative perspectives of the modern politician. // Media and social communications. University of National and World Economy / Alma communication, №19, January 2014. Available from:http://www.media-journal.info/?p=item&aid=355 * Swirski, Peter (2010). Ars Americana Ars Politica: Partisan Expression in Contemporary American Literature and Culture. Montreal, London: McGill-Queen's University Press. . * Swirski, Peter (2005). From Lowbrow to Nobrow. Montreal, London: McGill-Queen's University Press. . * On Religion and Popular Culture Further reading * Duncan, Barry (1988). Mass Media and Popular Culture. Toronto, Ont.: Harcourt, Brace & Co. Canada. . * Rosenberg, Bernard, and David Manning White, joint. eds. Mass Culture: the Popular Arts in America. York: Free Press of Glencoe, 1957. * Cowen, Tyler, "For Some Developing Countries, America's Popular Culture Is Resistible". The New York Times, 22 February 2007, sec. C, p. 3. * Furio, Joanne, "The Significance of MTV and Rap Music in Popular Culture". The New York Times, 29 December 1991, sec. VI, p. 2. External links Category:Popular culture Category:Media studies Category:Youth